Original space shuttle mock-up to be displayed in Downey

DOWNEY - The original full-size space shuttle mock-up built in 1972 - before the real thing - is coming out of storage and will soon be displayed in Downey.

The shuttle, made mostly of wood and plastic, will be displayed in the Downey Studios parking lot starting next month, city officials said.

The mock-up has been in storage for a decade in a warehouse. A temporary tent will be erected to house the historic shuttle, said Mayor Roger Brossmer.

"Our ultimate goal is to get it on display. This is the original shuttle, and we think it's a national treasure," he said. "By mid-July it will be moved into the tent, where people will be able to access our ... mock-up in raw form."

Plans are in the works to restore the shuttle and to build a permanent home for the artifact, all of which will cost about $2 million, Brossmer said.

"The idea is we're not going to be talking about some mythical thing - it's here," he said. "We have literally thousands of kids who come to our center to learn about science and mathematics today. I think corporations are going to want to get behind this and support it."

The 122-foot-by-78-foot mock-up was built by North American Rockwell, which later became Rockwell International and then part of the Boeing Co. The company later won a NASA contract to build the real space shuttles.

When the real shuttle was built, the mock-up "lost its luster," said Scott Pomrehn, executive director of Columbia Memorial Space Center.

"In 1999, Rockwell left and the city was interested in keeping the mock-up," he said. "NASA gave it to the city of Downey and it's been in storage for 10 years."

Every Apollo Command Module and space shuttle was designed and assembled in the buildings at the space center.

The city is hoping to bring in some of the original workers from the 1972 construction team to help refurbish the mock-up to its original form, Brossmer said.

"This will be a way for people to come in and see what was actually built at this location. This is where (the shuttle) was built. It was where the engineers worked," Brossmer said. "This is very hallowed ground, and we're going to take advantage of that."

Generating the needed funds could take up to two years, he said.

For now, the front of the center is being repaved in preparation for the tent's erection.

"We would like to see people be able to get in it, touch it. See what it's like. We are very excited," Brossmer said. "This is the place where all the dignitaries came and had their pictures taken. We are going to have to get people's support to keep this going so we can continue to honor what has gone on at this site."

In addition to the mock-up, the center is working to preserve and display several other major space engineering artifacts, including test capsules.

"In the heyday there were 30,000 people who worked here a day," Brossmer said. "Those people remember this place."